Catching up on last weekend’s outing, which was our second stay at Samuel P. Taylor State Park. Again, we arrived after dark, and again, the LED mod to assist unhitching had us very excited. It was hard to tell in the dark, but this was the exact same site we reserved last time and I still feel that, though it is a nice site, it seems a waste to have so much unused outside site space.
It was cold, but clear, so we took advantage of the break in the rain. Richard went on a bike ride Saturday and I went kayaking all by myself. The challenge was to find a launch location where I felt comfortable and where there were lots of people. I’m still in the somewhat nervous stage, so popular areas around Marshall were eliminated simply because there was no cell service. I drove all the way up the east side of Tomales Bay, turned around, drove all the way back down, and then drove all the way up to Hearts Desire Beach on the other side of the bay. This was a perfect location. There was a nice sandy beach and a fairly protected cove for an easy launch. There were lots of people around in case I got into trouble, and there was strong cell service even on the water. Perfect.
I was able to carry 100% of my stuff, including “Squirt” the kayak, and do all the set up right on the beach. I did not time myself, but I will say it didn’t feel like an onerous amount of set up time. The Mysterioso base layer proved to be super warm and very comfortable. I got a deck bag to hold absolutely everything needed, including the hand pump, so it could get stowed while paddling. I think the only thing I would do differently next time is: wear the splash pants I bought (my butt got wet), and look into getting the larger storage bag that can be used like a backpack. It was fairly painful and awkward to carry the kayak in its bag back and forth to and from the car. As predicted, I noted that I was glad not to have gotten the 6 lb. heavier model. The paddle itself was exquisitely relaxing, exactly what I needed.
It was cold at night, but we were toasty warm running the propane heater. There was condensation on the windows in the morning, but I put a microfiber towel in Dory specifically for the purpose of morning condensation. Omnia pizza is becoming a go to favorite when it’s too cold to grill and we discovered that using tomato paste from a tube tastes just fine and does not result in a ton of wasted pizza sauce. Lunch on Sunday was a lovely stop at the Nicasio Reservoir. It was glorious to see it so full of water!
Not much else to report. We just keep swimming and maximize the opportunities for peace in nature. And that is a VERY good thing. Thank you, Dory!
Total miles: 59, 2 hours 17 min, 16.1 mpg. Site 38 – no solar anywhere in the park. We both got good LTE cell service this time. No dump here, so we went to Olema again before going home.
